Associated Press
Marian Gaborik snapped a third-period tie with the first of his two goals and then sealed the Rangers' win with an empty-netter as the Blueshirts beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Gaborik, who reached 600 NHL points with his first goal, also helped set up Artem Anisimov's second-period tally that tied the game 1-1. The Rangers (20-9-4) won their second straight and broke the Devils' four-game winning streak in the first of six meetings between Atlantic Division rivals.
Anisimov also had an assist, Carl Hagelin added a short-handed goal, and Derek Stepan chipped in two assists for the Rangers.
Travis Zajac's first goal of the season gave the Devils a 1-0 lead in the first period. New Jersey was without leading scorer Patrik Elias, who sat out because of an illness.
Anisimov tied it with his seventh goal with 2:30 left in the second period and Gaborik broke the deadlock 4:45 into the third after Anisimov sent a backhanded shot off the post that trickled behind goalie Martin Brodeur. Gaborik alertly knocked the rebound past Brodeur.
Hagelin made it 3-1 with 5:18 remaining, the fourth goal in 13 games for the rookie left wing. Gaborik closed the scoring with 3 seconds left, netting his 19th goal -- one shy of the NHL lead.
Henrik Lundqvist continued his mastery over New Jersey, winning for the 23rd time in 37 games with a 1.85 goals-against average. Lundqvist made 30 saves for his 13th win of the season.
• COMMENT ON BLUESHIRTS UNITED | PHOTO GALLERY
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STAT OF THE GAME
Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist raised his record in head-to-head games against Martin Brodeur to an astounding 21-5-5. Brodeur is the winningest goaltender in NHL history, but Lundqvist has had his number for most of the past seven seasons.
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| (selected by the local media) |
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| 1. Lundqvist |
2. Anisimov |
3. Hagelin |
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[51-24-7]
[48-28-6]